She deliberated for a good thirty minutes how to respond but in the end decided to respect Camilla’s wishes not to mention it in a letter so as not to upset her father. She would have to wait until she saw Camilla again and thank her privately.
Chapter 8
Summer 1941
So far in the eight weeks she’d been on active duty, Fitz had been to Tangmere twice. The first time she went back after Betty’s fatal accident had been more traumatic than Fitz had expected. As she came into land, images of Betty’s plane hitting the tarmac and digging into the ground flashed before her. When she’d climbed out of the Spit she was delivering, Fitz’s legs had buckled and Bob had somehow managed to catch her under the arm.
She found herself wishing it was Sam who had been there to comfort her, like he had that awful day. She had managed to regain her composure, though. It wouldn’t do to fall apart in front of the men and Fitz certainly didn’t want it reported back to the ATA. She refused to put her emotions out on show for everyone and blamed the near collapse on cramp in her leg.
Fortunately, the second time she flew into Tangmere, she was mentally prepared and had no such problem as before.
On neither occasion had she seen Sam Carter again, and she had to acknowledge she was a little disappointed. Bob had reliably informed her however that on one of the days, she had missed him by just an hour as he’d set off on a mission, and on her other visit it had been his day off and he’d headed up to London to see an old friend. Fitz wondered if the old friend was of the female kind but then silently admonished herself for even thinking that. It wasn’t like her at all. She wasn’t even lookingfor a romance, so why she was letting Sam Carter get under her collar, she didn’t know.
Still, one morning when Fitz, Marjorie and Elsie were waiting for the bus to take them to the ferry pool, Fitz found herself wondering when or if she’d see Sam again. She took out his handkerchief from the pocket of her flight bag and refolded it. Maybe she’d never get a chance to return it to him.
‘Ah, look at you,’ said Elsie. ‘I bet you’re hoping you’ll be sent to Tangmere today.’ She nudged Fitz with her shoulder.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ declared Fitz, as the bus pulled up.
‘You hear that, Marjorie?’ said Elsie as the three women climbed on board. ‘Fitz here doesn’t remember a certain American airman with the most amazing blue eyes whose handkerchief she’s been carrying around in her flight bag all this time.’
‘Oh, really?’ said Marjorie, as she headed down the aisle to the empty seats at the back. ‘That is strange. Maybe we need to jog her memory?’
‘You’ll do nothing of the sort,’ said Fitz.
‘I wonder if he’s been pining for you,’ teased Elsie, settling into her seat.
‘Every morning he looks wistfully up to the sky wondering if today will be the day the Attagirl with the bright red lipstick will return.’
‘Well, Fitz, this could be your lucky day,’ said Marjorie, sitting down next to Elsie.
‘Stop it, both of you,’ said Fitz, taking the seat in front of them. ‘Besides, if he is there, it will behislucky day.’
Marjorie leaned forward and slapped Fitz on the shoulder. ‘Exactly. He is the lucky one.’
When they arrived at the ferry pool and Fitz was handed her chitties for the day, she was amazed to see her second delivery was indeed to Tangmere. Despite her declaration that it was Sam who should be thrilled, she couldn’t help feeling excited herself that she could possibly see him.
Two hours later, after delivering her first Spitfire of the morning to Andover and getting a lift back to Southampton’s Supermarine factory to collect another, Fitz landed her second Spit of the day at Tangmere airfield and taxied to the apron. She was pleased to see, once again, that Bob was there to meet her.
‘Hello, there, Bob,’ she said, climbing down from the cockpit. ‘Good to see you.’
‘And you, Fitz. Are you going over to the mess room?’
‘I mostly certainly am, but you know me, I need to get ready first.’ She smiled at the engineer and immediately began peeling off her flight suit. ‘How’re things here at Tangmere?’
‘All good,’ said Bob. He checked his watch. ‘If you hurry you’ll be in time for elevenses.’
Fitz by now had smoothed down her skirt and whipped her lipstick from her pocket. Using the small, hand mirror, she applied it to her lips. ‘There. How do I look?’
‘Perfect. Oh, we’ve got a couple of Frenchies in the mess today.’
Fitz frowned. ‘Frenchies?’
‘French airmen. They’re being flown out tonight.’
‘Right. I’ll look forward to talking to them. It’s been an age since I last spoke French.’
‘You speak French?’
